Sunday, February 7, 2010

Crafted with Love

Bleatings from EnviRambo.

I have been in somewhat of a design/craft mood lately. Maybe it is cabin fever starting to set in and I am just looking for something to do or, maybe it is the feeling of Spring just around the corner causing my desire to freshen things up. Either way, these inspiring blogs have been filling my head with lots of "Ooh, I want that!", "I can do that.", and "Why didn't I think of that?".

The first two offer simple storage solutions through repurposing household items. Like this bird cage:

I have always been drawn to bird cages as a decorative element, but never thought to do anything with them beyond that. This is so smart! I found it on Apartment Therapy's blog: 5 DIY Storage & Organization Ideas. The tip originally came from Better Homes & Garden's do it yourself website. I recommend taking a look at that one when you have some time, it is full of great ideas. One other of Apartment Therapy's posts had me saying, "Why didn't I think of that?". I could have really used this tip a few months ago before buying a bunch of worthless Wonder Hangers.

Then there are these beautiful craft-inspired blogs. I could spend hours scrolling through their older posts.

Your loved one would feel extra special pulling one of these out of their lunch bag tomorrow. The PDF needed to print them is available in their original posts. And, it is FREE!

Cathe Holden, the creative genius behind the Just Something I Made blog, serves up tons of free digital downloads. What I really love is that she scans pages from old books and then manipulates them for others' use. The possibilities are endless with the files she offers! One of the pages scanned had a nifty tip that caught my eye.

We have long given up buying bows and are slowly working our way through the last of our wrapping paper. Our gifts get less and less festive every year. That is why I was so happy to see this how-to. It is simple, uses materials I have laying around the house, and will make my presents pretty again!

Now I can spend the rest of the day baking brownies, to go into a special Valentine's Day goody bag, to pack with hubby's brown bag lunch - now with convenient carrying handle, complete with a DIY magazine bow on top! All crafted with love.